Ms. Yabe was born deaf and grew up in Tokyo, Atlanta, and London as she and her family sought better education for the deaf. Her unforgettable memories in Atlanta and London became her motivation to enter higher education in America and explore her potentiality through "Deaf Can Do!" As an international Deaf student, she earned her bachelor's degree in deaf studies from California State University, Northridge, and her master's degree in social work from the University of Southern California. Currently, she is on track to earn a PhD degree in disability studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago in May 2019.